IN WHATEVER WAY we have met the moment of our death, the journey of mind continues. We leave behind our physical body and all the appearances of this life and move on to our next stopping place and our next set of experiences. All that we have gone through up to this point, including the dissolution of the elements and of consciousness itself, belongs to the bardos of this life. Now we enter the luminous bardo of dharmata, which is the beginning of reaching the destination known as our next life. At this time, we have a perfect opportunity to achieve enlightenment and so we should look forward to these experiences. Rather than feeling, "Oh no, I don't want to be here," we should be full of enthusiasm and curiosity. We should resolve to remain calm and to be courageous. It is like exploring any new place. While there is a sense of anticipation, there are also strong feelings of hope and fear.

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At this time, when the bardo of dharmata appears to you,
Abandon all shock, terror and fear.
Enter into the recognition that whatever arises is pristine
awareness.
Recognize the appearances of the bardo in this manner.

The luminous bardo of dharmata begins when the element of space dissolves into luminosity, or dharmata. It ends after the various appearances of this bardo are not recognized and one faints or goes unconscious. According to the Dzogchen or Nyingma tradition of presenting these teachings, this bardo arises in two stages. In the first stage we experience the "ground luminosity," or the "luminosity of no appearance." In the second stage we experience the "spontaneously arising luminosity," or the "luminosity of appearance." It is in the second stage that the various displays of forms, sounds and lights are experienced. These appearances are explained as unfolding in a series of three distinct phases.

Exploring New Experiences

We often place high value on travel, especially to foreign countries with exotic landscapes. If we live in the West, then we may dream of going to the East, and so on. When we visit a foreign land, however, it is our attitude toward that landscape that determines the nature of our experience. We may give in to fear or we may choose to trust our environment. Either way, our response to the world in which we find ourselves shapes our whole experience.

For example, if you are in India and you are too scared to leave your hotel, then you will not see India. You will see only the Holiday Inn in New Delhi before going back home. Many people who go to unfamiliar places do that. For instance, if you are Chinese and you look only for Chinese restaurants in India, then you will have no genuine experience of Indian cooking-or you may have a disappointing experience of it! If you are Japanese, then why look for a Japanese restaurant in India? If you are American and you look for a McDonald's there, then you are not experiencing India.

Rather than wanting to be at your usual restaurant, you have to make a leap-into the hot and spicy curry sauce. You have to taste the bitter and sweet flavors of Indian food. Then you can say that you tasted it and that you did or did not like it. That is no problem. You can have your opinion and then make a choice, bur at least you should taste it once with an open, inquisitive mind. With the same frame of mind, you should be willing to venture out into the streets and the slightly polluted air, where you can mix with the people and visit the shops, museums and monuments. Later, when you return home, you will feel as though you have seen and tasted something. You can say that you have walked the streets of New Delhi; you have been to the National Museum, where you saw the sacred relics of Buddha Shakyamuni.

If you can approach the bardo of dharmata with the same sense of openness and willingness to explore your experiences, then that attitude will not only help to ease potential difficulties, but it will also help you to recognize the nature of mind. If you are genuinely inquisitive about these unfamiliar experiences and are willing to taste them, no matter how spicy or mild, sweet or sour they may be, then you can relax. You can tell yourself, "I am willing to face this. I am willing to experience this as genuinely as possible."

If we are Americans in India, then we do not want to try to be in America. Pretending will not change anything. We will still be in India and we will still be confronting the same things. In the same way, if we try to be in the bardo of this life when we are in the bardo of dharmata, it is not going to work. No matter how hard we try, that is not where we will be. We are in the bardo of dharmata, and therefore we have to be there.

The key to understanding and working with the bardo teachings altogether is being in the present, being in the state of nowness. Being genuinely present with our experience of the bardo is a very productive and fruitful approach in terms of our practice. On the other hand, being there yet wanting to be elsewhere is very regressive; it is going backwards in terms of practice. It is as though we have gone forward on our journey to a certain point, and then we try to turn around and go back. In terms of our bardo journey, this will not work. At this point, the mind's dissolution has already taken place. There is no going back. Since it is not going to work, it is better to let go of all resistance and be fully there.

Dharmakaya Luminosity: The Luminosity of No Appearance

GROUND LUMINOSITY: THE WISDOM OF DHARMATA

At the end of the bardo of dying, when all of the elements of the physical body and mind consciousness have dissolved, we leave the bardo of this life and enter the bardo of dharmata. This experience arises for us after our consciousness has dissolved into space, and space has dissolved into luminosity, into the buddha wisdom, or buddha jnana, at our heart center. The completion of this process takes place with the arising of the appearance of the "black light," which is the dawning of the ground luminosity. As described previously, for those without a stable practice of meditation and some experience of mind's empty-luminous nature, this is the moment that we hit the "off" button of our television set-there is a flash of light and the screen goes dark.

The arising of the ground luminosity signals the first stage of the bardo of dharmata. It is our first experience of the genuine luminosity of mind, its full state of wisdom. Viewed from the perspective of our practice and our spiritual journey, it is an extraordinary moment. It is the time when every aspect of the "all-basis consciousness," the alaya-vijnana, has dissolved into the fundamental state of wisdom, and we return to the original space of mind-its starting point. Since all aspects of our relative, conceptual mind have ceased, mind's absolute natUre of mind is revealed. Because that absolute nature is buddha nature, or tathagatagarbha, our experience in this moment is a vivid experience of enlightened mind. Even if we did not "get" the nature of mind in this lifetime, it manifests so powerfully now that we have a much greater opportunity to recognize it.

The Dzogchen teachings call this the arising of the alpha pure wisdom of dharmakaya. If we can maintain our awareness now, then we can rest our mind in the ground luminosity, in the state of dharmata itself, which is said to be like a clear, cloudless sky-without sunlight, moonlight or starlight. It is a naked experience of awareness without any reference point, a pure experience of shunyata without a speck of obscuration.

Instead of going unconscious at this point, those who have a developed practice of meditation and have attained some realization of the nature of mind will recognize the ground luminosity as the fundamental nature of reality and the essence of their own minds. They will be able to rest in this luminosity. However, whether one is a practitioner or not, this experience of luminosity manifests unfailingly for all beings.

Dharmata Obscured

Normally, we do not experience our buddha nature clearly. It is obscured by the all-basis consciousness, the alaya-vijnana. This is the basic mind that continues from moment to moment, and functions as a storage facility for all our karmic seeds. Every action we engage in, whether positive or negative, leaves its impression there, much like data is stored on a hard disk drive. Each impression is like a seed. It is a form of potential for these impressions to ripen into another set of actions similar in nature. If we routinely repeat certain actions, then stronger impressions are made. This store of karmic seeds, then, is the source of our habitual patterns, our tendencies to act in certain ways, over and over again. The "actions" that make an impact on our mind are mental actions to begin with, the movement of thoughts, as well as our intentions and motivations. These mental actions lead to physical actions-either the actions of speech or body.

It is this aspect of mind that obscures our perception of genuine reality. Consequently, we fail to recognize "our own face," the wisdom that is our original and true nature-our buddha nature. Instead, we take ourselves to be the ongoing stream of thoughts and emotions that arise moment to moment from this storehouse consciousness. The whole purpose of the path is to correct this misperception and uncover our selfexisting wisdom. At the time of death, with the dissolving of consciousness into space, and space into luminosity, nothing of this stream remains to obscure mind's empty radiance.

Samadhi Days

Our intention as practitioners is to be able to rest in the ground luminosity, and so reach our destination of enlightenment via the shortest and least difficult route. Accordingly, we rely on our practices of shamatha and vipashyana to develop the strength of mind and the power of our practice to be able to accomplish that. How long will we be able to rest when the time comes?

It is generally taught that you will be able to rest in the ground luminosity for approximately five "samadhi days." One samadhi day is equal to the length of time an undistracted state of meditation can be sustained on a regular basis. This means that if you can rest in the nature of mind without becoming distracted for one hour now, then you will have the ability to remain resting in the ground luminosity for five hours. If another person can maintain a state of nondistraction for five minutes now, then he or she will be able to rest in the luminosity for twenty-five minutes. And if someone else can rest for only five seconds now, then that person will have only twenty-five seconds of resting then. Therefore, the length of a samadhi day varies from person to person.

If, on the other hand, you are a developed meditator, a yogi or yogini who can rest in samadhi effortlessly, you will attain enlightenment at the time of the bardo of dharmata. When you see the luminosity, you will recognize it. You will think, "Aha! This is it! This is what I have seen in my practice and what I have been trying to experience fully." This sudden recognition is similar to a moment when we grasp the real meaning of something we have been thinking about and contemplating for a long time. We are unable to fully "get it" until something we see or hear suddenly triggers our understanding. Then we have an "Aha!" experience.

From this, we can see the importance of the shamatha and vipashyana practices and the development of calmness, clarity and mindfulness for attaining liberation in the bardo of dharmata. If we have no experience of samadhi, then there will also be no resting during that time and no recognition of the ground luminosity. We will certainly faint and fall into a state of unconsciousness.

MEETING OF MOTHER AND CHILD LUMINOSITIES

That "Aha!" experience is what we call the meeting of the mother and child luminosities. The motherlike luminosity is the ground luminosity, the basic reality of all phenomena. The childlike luminosity is our individual experience of that nature. In reality, these two are not separate; they are separated only by our perception of being apart. When the two meet and then merge into one, we have a nondual experience of luminosity. It is at this very moment that we can attain liberation in the bardo of dharmata. If we can recognize and rest in that experience, then liberation is certain. There is no doubt. When accomplished yogis rest in that samadhi and realize the nature of mind, there is no time limit on how long they can rest. Once we realize the nature of mind, then that is our enlightenment, and it has no measurable time. We can only measure the time we have rested in a nondual state if our resting is short and unstable. Then when we come out of that resting state, we can look back on it. We can say it was five minutes, ten minutes, one hour or two hours. Therefore, it is very important to train in meditation practice now and make every effort to recognize that luminosity in the bardo of this life. Even if we fail, our training may enable us to recognize it in this bardo.

When the mother and child luminosities meet, it is not like the meeting of two separate and unrelated people. There is a powerful and instantaneous recognition of connection. When a child meets its mother, it knows, "This is my mom." There is no question. The child does not have to think about it and ask, "Is this my mom or not?" Generally speaking, you grow up with your mother, and so you naturally recognize her when ever you see her, no matter where you are. And you naturally recognize her voice, even from a distance. You can even recognize her footsteps.

Motherlike luminosity is the wisdom, or prajna, element-the empty aspect-of buddha wisdom, or buddha jnana. In terms of ground, path and fruition, it is the ground aspect of the nature of all phenomena. It is the "basis of all" wisdom and the source and heart of our sacred world. Childlike luminosity is the path, or upaya, aspect of our experience of this basic wisdom. Upayarefers to the methods we use in order to bring about the experience of that wisdom-from shamatha and vipashyana all the way to the deity practices of the Vajrayana. We exert ourselves in all of these methods to try to experience the reality of the ground luminosity.

The childlike luminosity is said to be slightly impure in the sense that it is still conceptual. For example, when we first start to experience selflessness on the path, it is still theoretical. We rely on study and contemplation as well as analytical meditation to help us grasp it intellectually. Then, when we practice resting in the nature of mind, we have various hopes and fears about whether or not we can accomplish the state of nonthought, or nonconceptual wakefulness. However, whatever glimpse of realization we successfully generate on the path is the childlike luminosity, the immature awareness that nevertheless will recognize its mother, its source, with which it has a heart connection. As our realization matures, it becomes progressively less conceptual.

When mother and child luminosities merge, ground and path become one. There is recognition and realization of the ground, the basic nature of all phenomena. At that time, wisdom, or prajna, and method, or upaya, become one. Their merging brings the experience of nonduality, which is said to be like rivers from different mountains flowing into the ocean. The rivers may come from different mountains, but they dissolve into one basic element when they finally meet. In the same way, these two luminosities come together.

The terminology for this experience of luminosity varies according to tradition, bUt all names for it point to the same reality. In the Sutrayana, this experience is called prajnaparamita, the perfection of wisdom, also known as the "great mother." In Madhyamaka, it is called "ultimate truth" or "absolute truth." In Mahamudra, it is called "nonconceptual wisdom," which in Tibetan is thamal gyi shepa, or "ordinary mind." In this presentation, which is primarily from the perspective of the Dzogchen teachings, the ground luminosity is called the luminosity of the alpha pure dharmakaya. It is the state of rigpa, naked awareness, which has always been in the state of purity from beginningless time. The Vajrayana teachings point to this experience through a great variety of terms and symbols, including "the great bliss wisdom," "vajra heart," "vajra mind," "vajra nature" and "OMAH HUM." No matter what you call it, that is what we experience at the time of this bardo. It is a beautiful and blissful experience.

SEARCHING FOR HOME

While there are many imposing names that point to this reality, the basic experience of wisdom is always simple and it is always with us. It can be found in every moment of our present experience. The reason that we fail to recognize it is that we are looking for something that is extraordinary. That is our predicament. We may think we understand this-we may tell ourselves over and over, "the nature of anger is completely pure" -yet when we get angry, we look for something pure outside of that anger. We think of that anger as too ordinary and polluted. Then we are missing the point again. In order to meet with the experience we are looking for, we simply need to know where to look.

All of the most profound instructions tell us that we will find ordinary mind only by looking directly at what is right in front of us. It may be an unwelcome emotion or thought, but nevertheless, that is our world in that moment. Ordinary mind is something you find right where you live-in the streets, so to speak, of your hometown-and not by going to the Himalayan mountains. If you leave your home to search for ordinary mind in some exotic location or foreign land, then you will not find it there. The great yogi Milarepa stayed in Tibet, where he was born, and found ordinary mind in the mountains where he wandered. There is no record of him traveling to the West to seek his enlightenment, although you could check the history books.

Just as we find the lovely and pristine lotus flower growing in the waters of muddy ponds, we discover the primordially pure and blissful wisdom mind within the essence of the impure, polluted mind of samsara. If we can generate some experience of this absolute nature of mind now, then in the bardo of dharmata we will have no problem recognizing the motherlike luminosity and attaining some kind of realization. If, on the other hand, we become habituated to looking for ordinary mind outside of our own "home"-our being, our own minds-then that pattern will repeat itself at the time of death. We will fail to recognize our "mom," the mother luminosity appearing right in front of us, because we have never seen "her" before. However, if we grow up with her, seeing her face, hearing her voice, then it will be impossible not to recognize her and feel great joy at the moment of reunion.

AUSPICIOUS CAUSES AND CONDITIONS

When we connect with the lineage and its blessings and then recognize ordinary mind, the environment changes; it becomes sacred. Our recognition deepens and becomes more powerful. How can we create or participate in an environment of such sacredness? It is not created by simply arranging the external environment, by hanging religious paintings on the walls, placing rich, ornate brocades on the teacher's chair and table and then having somebody sit in that chair wearing curious-looking clothes. The causes and conditions that bring about the experience of sacred outlook and sacred world occur only when genuine devotion arises in our hearts. When we can place our heart of devotion in front of our guru and the lineage, then blessings are naturally present. They are the naturally present radiance of love and pure compassion that touches and transforms our hearts when they are open. We experience this in a heightened sensein the presence-actual or felt-of our guru and the lineage because they, too, are open. By the self-existing power of the wisdom they embody, we can be touched or provoked to go beyond the safety net of conceptual mind. Therefore, it should be understood that blessings are not gifts we receive for our accomplishments or good behavior, and they are not external to us.